Dispenser for toilet-tank combination



Oct. 30, 1962 A. P. BINNI DISPENSER FOR TOILET-TANK COMBINATION 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 5, 1957 Fle a aw a INVENTOR ARMAND P. BINN]ATTORNEXS Oct. 30, 1962 A. P. BlNNl 3,060,457

DISPENSER FOR TOILET-TANK COMBINATION Filed Nov. 5, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet2 I48 I46 I Armand R Binnl' I INVENTOR.

3,060,457 DISPENSER FOR TOILET-TANK COMBINATION Armand P. Binni, 38Fairview Ave., Yearlon, Pa. Filed Nov. 5, 1957, Ser. No. 694,630 2Claims. (c1. 44%) The present invention relates to dispensers for thetype of toilets in which a separate tank is connected to provide aquantity of flush water that is automatically collected after eachflushing and is held ready for the next. This application is in part acontinuation of prior application Serial No. 450,290 filed August 17,1954, since abandoned.

Many different types of dispensers have been suggested heretofore forthe purpose of adding disinfectants or the like to flush water, but theyhave not been too successful. Instances of such prior suggestions willbe found in US. Patents 2,243,454 and 2,647,266.

Among the objects of the present invention is the provision of anautomatic dispenser that is simple to manufacture, not likely tomisoperate and enables dispensing with a maximum of efliciency.

The above as well as additional objects of the present invention will bemore clearly understood from the following description of several of itsexemplifications, reference being made to the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a broken-away pictorial view of a portion of the above type oftoilet tank, with the dispenser of this invention fitted in position;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the dispenser itself with themounting structure not shown, and with the section line broken to betterillustrate the construction;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the dispenser of FIGS. 1 and 2, with themounting structure in place;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are plan views of the mating surfaces of the dispenserportions when the dispenser is disassembled along the line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a broken-away vertical sectional view of a modified form ofdispenser; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the construction of FIG. 6 taken along theline 77.

According to the present invention an eflicient dispenser of the abovetype has an open-top container, mounting elements for holding thecontainer in a flush tank above the liquid fill line, a valve assemblysecured to the bottom wall of the container, a pair of passageways, eachleading from the lower portion of the container through the valveassembly to a different location on the exterior of the dispenser, anddispensing control structure including a float underneath the valveassembly and connected to cause discharge of liquid from the containerthrough the passageways when the float is lowered by the water in theflush tank and to prevent such dis charge when the float is raised, andseparate adjustment screws separately connected in the respectivepassageways to adjust the relative flow through them.

It is particularly desirable to have the valve assembly made ofpolyethylene plastic inasmuch as this can be secured to the container ina gasketless manner, and dispensing conduits can also be held in such anassembly in a gasketless manner.

For highly effective control and simplified handling in the assemblingprocess, the valve assembly has a block with an upstanding boss matingwith a corresponding recess in the underside of the container, thelaterally ex- 3,966,457 Patented Oct. 30, 1962 tending grooves haveportions directed downwardly along the side of the boss, and theadjustment screws fit into these downwardly directed portions and extendup into the container.

In FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is shown a broken-away portion of aflush tank 10 which is connected to an accompanying toilet bowl, notillustrated, and which collects and stores a quantity of water withwhich the bowl is flushed, the water-level line being indicated at 12.The principal connection to the bowl is from the bottom of the flushtank, but an overflow pipe 14 also connects with the bowl, one of thepurposes of this overflow pipe being to provide an outlet for the waterin the tank should its shut-ofif mechanism (also not illustrated) failto operate. The top of the overflow pipe 14 is accordingly fixed at alevel above the liquid level 12 and below the top of the tank 10.

The overflow pipe 14 is also used in all modern toilet constructions forseparately supplying to the bowl a quantity of water separate and apartfrom that used for flushing. To this end, an auxiliary water-supply line16 is connected to the tank-filling mechanism for supplying a relativelysmall amount of water to the overflow pipe each time the tank is filled.This auxiliary amount of water follows the completion of the flushingoperation and assures that a proper quantity of water is in the bowlbetween flushings.

The dispenser of the present invention is generally indi cated at 20 andincludes an open-top generally rectangular container 22 mounted adjacentto the upper edge of a tank wall as by straps 23, 24 that are shaped tohook over the wall edge, as indicated at 25, 26, and to have a U- shapedportion 27, 28 in which the container is received.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 2 the container 22 has a bottom wall 36 tothe underside of which is secured a valve assembly 32 that includes avalve block 34, a float mechanism generally indicated at 36, and a valveball 38. The upper face of the valve block 34 is shown in more detail inFIG. 5 and has a central float guide bore 40 with the upper portion ofthis bore somewhat enlarged to form a shoulder 41. The upper surface ofblock 34 has an upstanding boss 42 that encircles a hollow valve chamber44 from which a pair of grooves 45, 46 extend laterally to the edge ofthe boss. Downwardly along this edge are additional groove portions 47,48 that extend from the grooves 45, 46 to terminal grooves 49, 50 whichrun laterally to the edge of the valve block 34. The top of the blockaround the boss 42 is of somewhat lower level, and has a set of screwapertures 52 that penetrate 66 into the bottom of container 22. Grooves75, 76,

ings 81, 82 on the outside of the valve assembly at the terminals of thegrooves.

Aligned with the screw-receiving holes 52, the thickened containerunderside 60 has anchoring sockets 83, the lower ends of which are openand the upper ends of which are not. In addition, internally threadedposts 88, 89 formed on the upper surface of the container floor 30 openinto the passageway portions formed by grooves 77, 78 and their matinggrooves 47, 48. Within these threaded posts are fitted adjusting screws90, 91.

The valve block and container are preferably molded or cast, andlightening cavities 84, 85, 86 can be formed in the respective member toreduce their bulk. Polyethylene is a preferred material from which thesemembers are molded, and the lightening cavities help to make thismaterial somewhat more resilient so that the valve block can be securedto the underside of the container in a gasketless manner.

By way of example, as shown in FIG. 2, a set of four screws 93 can befitted through the openings 52 and threadedly engaged in the sockets 83to securely hold the block directly against the undersurface 60 whenboth are made of polyethylene, and no gasket is needed. The screws 93are preferably of the self-tapping kind, in which case the sockets 83need not be prethreaded. If the holding faces are slightly out of true,there may be slight leakage with such a gasketless joint, when thecontainer holds a dispensing liquid having the viscosity of Water.However, liquids of somewhat higher viscosity will not leak even withthe ordinary unevenness that can be expected from plastic moldings. Aviscosity at 20 C. of about 100 centipoises is sufficient for mostpurposes inasmuch as the water in the tank 10 will generally not beabove room temperature. A dispensing liquid having a sufliciently highviscosity is made by dissolving in a quart of water up to about /2% byweight of sodium polyacrylate, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose or methylcellulose. Cleaning action is readily provided by also including in thesolution a strong detergent such as trisodium phosphate. Any perfumethat is not affected by the other ingredients can also be used.

A feature of the present invention is that the dispenser has two outlets81, 82, one of which can be connected to empty into the overflow pipe14. A small length of bent metal tubing 95 can be inserted in one ofthese discharge openings, and can be connected as by means of theflexible tubing 96 along with another section of metal tubing 97, sothat the liquid discharge through opening 81 will fall into the overflowpipe. Another short piece of bent tubing 94, similar to piece 95, canalso be inserted in discharge opening 82 for the purpose of having thedischarge take place where it can be seen from above the container 22.Tubing sections such as 94, 95 will be clamped in place by the samesecuring device that holds the valve block 34 to the container undersidesection, and these tubings can also be fitted in the openings in agasketless manner. Plastic tubing if inserted in place of metal tubes94, 95, does not work well.

When it is desired to make sure that no leakage takes place,particularly when the tubing pieces 94, 95 are twisted around in thegrooves in which they are fitted, the outer face of the joint 98 betweenthe block 34 and surface 60, can be coated with a layer of waterrepellant material such as paraffin wax deposited with a brush, asindicated at 99 in FIG. 2.

In the illustrated construction, the float mechanism includes a floatbell 101, in a thickened upper portion of which is threaded a rod 102.The upper end of the rod in turn has an enlarged head 103 formed, forexample, by shrinking a band around it. Bore 40 is made large enough tofreely pass the shank of the rod 102 but to keep the head 103 fromfalling through.

The dispenser of FIGS. 1 through 5 fits neatly into a corner of theflush tank and is entirely automatic in operation, The rod 102 is madelong enough to keep the float bell between six and eight inches belowthe top of the tank so that it will be below the usual water level.Accordingly, when the tank is filled to that level, the float pressesthe valve ball 38 against the bottom of outlet 66, and thereby preventsdischarge of liquid from container 22. A flushing operation causes thetank 10 to empty so that the float bell is permitted to drop of its ownweight until the water level rises again. Dropping of the float permitsthe valve ball 38 to also drop, thereby opening the discharge outlet andcausing liquid to flow through the tubes 94, 95. The quantity of liquiddispensed from the container during the flushing interval is observed bywatching the liquid discharges and adjusting the screws 90, -91, whichare conveniently in the form of thumb screws, so they can be readilyrotated by hand. In order to make sure that the liquid will properlyfall into the overflow pipe, the container 22 should have a depth nogreater than about two inches. It will be noted from FIG. 2 that thethreading of these screws further into the downwardly directed portionof the discharge passageways will cause the lower ends of the screws toobstruct more and more of these passageways.

In accordance with the present invention, a single assembly will providetwo different separately controllable dispensing discharges, one intothe body of water in the tank 10 and the other into the overflow pipe14. The cleaning action of the two streams of dispensed liquid isentirely different. The liquid in the tank does not need a highconcentration of cleaning agent, since this body of liquid only tends toaccumulate a little bit of scum and a film of corrosion products.However, the volume of this liquid is pretty large, generally threegallons or more. On the other hand, the quantity of water stored in thetoilet bowl is generally less than half a gallon, but here a moreconcentrated cleaner is desirable. The separate adjustability feature ofthe present invention enables the proper centrations to be obtained inboth bodies of water from a single supply of cleaning liquid.

Another important feature of the present invention is that dispensingdoes not take place along the shank of the float rod 102, particularlywhen the valve block is made of polyethylene. A cleaning solutiondispensed along this shank would have a tendency to dry out during aperiod of non-use, and deposit solid chemicals between the shank and thebore 40, and thus cause the float rod to stick.

The construction of FIGS. 1 to 5 inclusive is also readily disassembledfor cleaning purposes, for example where dirt or other foreign materialis permitted to fall into the container 22 and finds its way in blockingposition in outlet 66, or in the passageway grooves.

The adjustability features of the present invention also enable the useof the dispenser with any kind of toilettank combination, even those inwhich the tank-filling time varies from a few seconds to as long as fiveminutes or more. In different locations the pressure of the water usedto fill the tank is subject to wide variation, and the control valvewhich controls the filling can also be set for different filling speeds.Were it not for the adjustment, it would be necessary to use adispensing apparatus with a measuring arrangement, as inabove-identified Patent No. 2,243,454, and such measuring arrangementsrequire as least two different spaced seals so that they are moredifficult to manufacture and keep free of leaks.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a valving arrangement for a dispenser according to amodified form of the present invention. In this construction the floor30 of the dispenser tank has a valve which is shown generally by thereference character 132. This valve includes a valve body 134 projectingon both sides of floor 30 and having an annular flange 136 whichoverlies and rests on the upper surface of the floor. A separate lockingring 138 is secured to the valve body 134 and is clamped against thebottom of the floor 30 to hold the valve body in place.

Extending through the valve body 134 in diametrically opposed relation,as is best illustrated in FIG. 7, are fluid passages 140 and 142. Thefluid passage 140 opens through the bottom of the valve body 134 andcommunicates with the interior of the flush tank for dispensing thetreating material into the water carried by the flush tank.

The fluid passage 142 terminates short of the bottom of the valve body134 and has communicated therewith a horizontal fluid passage 146 whichin turn has communicated therewith a pipe 148. The pipe 158 extends fromthe valve body 134 into the upper end of the overflow pipe, as in FIG.1.

It is to be noted that the valve body 134 is provided with a centralchamber 150. The chamber 150 has disposed therein a valve member 152carried by a valve stem 154. The valve stem 154 extends vertically downthrough the valve body 134 and is provided at its lower end with a float156. The float 156 is intended to be in contact with the flush water 144and actuated thereby. The valve stem 154 also includes a reduced upperportion 158 which extends vertically through the valve body 134 and isprovided with a counterbalance spring 160 which normally urges the valvemember 152 upwardly and counterbalances the weight thereof. The upperend of the valve body 134 is provided with a removable cap 162.

In addition to the valve member 152, which may be considered a firstvalve means, there is provided second valve means in the form of needlevalves 164. Each of the needle valves 164 is carried by a projectionboss 166 of the valve body 134 and is associated with an inlet passage168. The individual inlet passages 168 communicate with one of the fluidpassages 140 and 142. It is to be noted that the valve member 152 is sopositioned whereby when it is in its shut-off position it closes theinlet passages 168.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that the valve member152 controls the entire flow of the dispensing liquid through the fluidpassages 140 and 142 and that the needle valves 164 control the volumeof liquid which flows into the individual fluid passages 140 and 142.

The construction of FIGS. 6 and 7 operates in the same manner as that ofFIGS. 1 through 5.

The dispenser of the present invention can be used not only to clean butto odorize or perfume and sterilize bodies of water into which thedispensing takes place. Even though the container 22 has an open top,not too much perfume ingredients Will be lost by evaporation inasmuch asthe tank is kept relatively cool and standard tank covers generally makea fairly eflicient lid that prevents undue evaporation.

While polyethylene makes a highly effective material for construction ofthe valve assembly, the valve ball 38 is preferably made of metal suchas stainless steel. Adjustment screws 90, 91 are also conveniently madeof similar metal, although here plastic materials such as Bakelite, arejust as effective. While the float shank 102 is described above as madeof metal (stainless steel is here also desirable) it can be made ofplastic and can be molded integrally with the float bell 101, ifdesired. A metal rod has the advantage of adding more weight to thefloat so that it will drop more positively at each flushing. Anextremely light float, such as one molded entirely of plastic will havea greater tendency to hang up as a result of friction against guide bore40, particularly if foreign material works its Way into the bore. Floatassembly weight of at least one ounce is used.

The container 22 and its thickened portion 60 having the shape in theabove figures, is readily molded in one piece, as is the valve block 34.

The dispenser of the present invention need not be mounted on theparticular tank wall as shown in FIG. 1, but can be mounted on any ofits four walls. Conduit tubing 96 is accordingly arranged to providesuflicient 6 length to reach the overflow pipe from different containermounting locations.

Where the container installation does not unduly obstruct visual accessto the discharge openings 81, 82, the tube section 94 can be omitted andthe discharge adjusted by watching the dispenser outflow from thecorresponding outlet 82. To help assure that such discharge will not rundown the outer surface of the valve and over the float shank, the valveblock can be modified by having a shallow groove formed in the verticalside below opening 82, and at the bottom of this vertical groove adownward projection can be formed to act as a flow guide.

Instead of having a single outlet 66 from the dispensing container ofthe construction of FIGS. 1 through 5, there can be a plurality ofoutlet openings arranged in a group so that each will be controlled by asingle float control. For example, such a plurality of containeropenings can be arranged to all open into the hemispherical roof of thevalve chamber where they will all be obstructed by the valve ball 38when it is lifted by the float mechanism. Alternatively the valve ballcan be replaced by a body of suitably shaped non-porous sealing materialsuch as ordinary rubber, sponge rubber or plastic foam. Because of itsresiliency such sealing material can be used with a cooperating surfacethat is not hemispherical and can have any suitable shape such as shown,for example, in Patents 2,722,394 or 2,620,097. The use of a pluralityof outlets from the container is helpful to reduce the possibility ofmisoperation by reason of clogging with foreign matter.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A flush tank dispenser for dispensing predetermined quantities ofliquid into a toilet-tank combination every time the toilet is flushed,said dispenser having a container not over about two inches in depth,mounting elements for holding the container in a flush tank above theliquid fill line, a valve assembly secured to the bottom wall of thecontainer, a pair of passageways in the valve assembly eachcommunicating with the lower portion of the container, each passagewayalso extending to a different discharge location on the exterior of thedispenser, and dispensing control structure including a shut-off valvein the valve assembly, a perpendicular bore in the lower portion of thevalve assembly, a float underneath the valve assembly and connectedthrough the bore to the shut-off valve to cause discharge of liquid fromthe container through the passageways when the float is lowered by thewater in the flush tank and to prevent such discharge when the float israised, and separate adjustment screws separately connected in therespective passageways to adjust the relative flow through them, saiddischarge locations being each spaced from the lower end of the boresufficiently to keep discharged liquid from reaching the floatconnection, the underside of the container has a polyethylene surface,the valve assembly is formed of a polyethylene block secured to saidsurface in a gasketless arrangement, both the block and the undersidehave laterally extending mating grooves that together define therespective passageways and conduit elements are held in gasketlessarrangement in said mating grooves.

2. A flush tank dispenser for dispensing predetermined quantities ofliquid into a toilet-tank combination every time the toilet is flushed,said dispenser having a container not over about two inches in depth,mounting elements for holding the container in a flush tank above theliquid fill line, a hollow valve block secured to the underside of thecontainer, a single dispenser outlet in the bottom wall of thecontainer, said outlet leading into the hollow block, the containerunderside and the block having mating laterally extending grooves intheir contacting faces defining lateral passageway means leading fromthe hollow in the block to the exterior of the dispenser, avertically-extending float guide bore leading from the hollow to thebottom of the block, float control mechanism extending through said boreand having a shut-ofi element cooperating with the container undersideto cause passage of liquid from the container through the outlet whenthe float control mechanism is lowered by the water in the flush tankand to prevent such passage when the float control mechanism is raised,the valve block having on its upper surface an upstanding boss, a

5 rected portions and extending up into the container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,243,454 Collinge et al May 27, 1941 10 2,647,266 Vierra Aug. 4, 19532,853,715 Ratcliffe Sept. 30, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 251,402 Great BritainMay 6, 1926

